Chattanooga Mocs at Tennessee Volunteers odds, picks and predictions

The Chattanooga Mocs begin their 2024 campaign by visiting the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday. Kickoff from Neyland Stadium is set for 12:45 pm ET (SEC Network). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Chattanooga vs. Tennessee odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.

Chattanooga finished last season by losing 3 of its last 4 games, including being routed 66-10 by the Alabama Crimson Tide. The losing skid came after QB Chase Artopoeus suffered a season-ending shoulder injury vs. Furman. With Artopoeus back healthy, the Mocs look to get back to their winning ways.

Tennessee, the No. 15 team in the US LBM Coaches Poll, will have a new face under center with sophomore QB Nico Iamaleava taking over for Joe Milton who went in the NFL draft. Tennessee regressed from its 10-2 regular season in 2022 finish to 8-4 in 2023. The Volunteers hope to see more success under the former 5-star recruit in Iamaleava.

– US LBM Coaches Poll: Conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports

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Chattanooga at Tennessee odds

Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 2:21 p.m. ET.

• Moneyline (ML): Off the board
• Against the spread (ATS): Chattanooga +38.5 (-110) | Tennessee -38.5 (-110)
• Over/Under (O/U): 56.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Chattanooga at Tennessee picks and predictions

Prediction

Tennessee 51, Chattanooga 6

PASS.

Tennessee will get this win, but betting on the Volunteers as -100000 favorites (before it went off the board) is simply not worth the risk. Bet on the spread and/or total instead.

BET TENNESSEE -38.5 (-110).

Chattanooga has lost all of its last 10 games against D1 opponents, going only 3-6-1 ATS in those 10 losses while failing to cover the spread in each of those last 2 losses.

With Iamaleava, this Tennessee team should be better than it was last year, so expect the Vols to cover in this season opener. Be aware that betting on a team this heavily favored, especially for an opening game, always comes with risk.

LEAN OVER 56.5 (-110).

Tennessee’s offense was still able to put up points vs. inferior opponents last year, despite taking a down year from 2022, so I expect this offense to be even better this year.

Look for Tennessee to completely overwhelm Chattanooga on both sides of the ball en route to carrying the Over to hit.

This is a lean because I am not confident that Chattanooga will be able to put up enough points to help this game hit the Over, so Tennessee will have to do all the scoring for this game to hit the Over.

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